Bloody Massacre in Lakhta

By Olga Kryuchkova

In Lakhta, a suburbs of St. Petersburg, a monstrous crime occurred. The whole family of Colonel Bazhenov was killed. The investigation of this crime was entrusted to Nikolsky, the young investigator from the judicial department. The investigator interrogated everyone who could know about the cause of the crime. Soon Nikolsky realized that The Bloody Massacre in Lakhta (this is how journalists called this crime) is a very confusing and difficult matter. During the investigation, the famous mentalist Mayer in St. Petersburg falls under suspicion. The investigator is confident that Mayer is a very mysterious person. In addition, in the city administrative bodies there is no mention of a person with the name Mayer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Olga Kryuchkova
• Release date: Nov 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215518038

Olga Kryuchkova

Olga Kryuchkova began her creative career in 2006. During this time, the author had more than 100 publications and reprints (historical novels, historical adventures, esotericism, art therapy, fantasy). A number of novels were co-written with Elena Kryuchkova.

Book preview

‘The Web of Lies and Crimes in Imperial Petersburg’ Book Series

Book 1

Bloody Massacre in Lakhta

Cover Design: Cover generated by AI (Stable Diffusion, NightCafe)

Hot summer 1908. Holiday village in Lakhta. Suburb of St. Petersburg.

A local policeman was leisurely walking along the main street of a holiday village called Olgino. Wealthy St. Petersburg residents have been renting summer houses in Lakhta for the summer for the past five years. But since the holiday village appeared in Lakhta, the most terrible crime here was breaking into the house and stealing the money and earrings of the owner, a respectable lady from St. Petersburg, by an attacker.

Therefore, the policeman perceived his service in Lakhta (in fact, the service lasted from May to September while the days were warm) rather than as a duty, but as a pleasure. Non-commissioned officer of the police Fedotov has served in the Lakhta police department for five years. This department was small and consisted of only three police officers. The oldest of them in terms of age and rank was Fedotov.

This small police department kept order in the holiday villages of Aleksandrovo and Olgino, as well as a village located not far from the holiday villages. This mini-police station was in charge of the Lakhta railway station. One of the policemen was on duty near the railway station every day. After all, from Lakhta it was possible to hire a coachman to St. Petersburg. During the summer season, the situation at the station and the adjacent hackney carriage station was lively. The coachmen often quarreled and sometimes even fought over passengers. However, many summer residents preferred to travel to Lakhta by train, and only then hire a coachman.

In a word, Fedotov was pleased with his service and the complaisance of his subordinates. Fedotov lived right there not far from Lakhta in his own house. His children grew up and lived their own lives, his wife died last winter, when an influenza epidemic spread throughout St. Petersburg and its environs.

As usual, Fedotov walked measuredly around the holiday village of Olgino. The summer residents knew him well and were accustomed to his presence. They could no longer imagine their holiday village Olgino without policeman Fedotov. Fedotov personified for them order, calm and confidence in the future. However, all of the above advantages of the presence of a policeman in a holiday village suddenly collapsed.

A flock of boys, about seven or eight years old, were running along one of the streets, playing tag. They were actively running and tired, so they decided to play hide and seek. And one of the boys decided to run into someone else’s house through the open wicket and hide in the bushes there. He decided that no one would find him this way. The boy hid behind a bush and noticed clear footprints of boots on the ground. He became curious and followed the tracks like a hound dog. The tracks circled the house and led him to the balcony. The wide double-leaf balcony door was open. The balcony itself was made in such a way that it also served as an exit to the garden. There were steps leading up to the low balcony located in the living room.

The boy looked around, but did not see anyone. Curiosity drove him forward. He climbed the steps to the balcony, passed the open balcony door and found himself in the living room, which was in twilight, because the living room windows were closed with shutters. And only through the balcony door did daylight penetrate into the room. What the boy saw in the living room was monstrous; he was paralyzed by fear.

Then, when he came to his senses a few minutes later, he ran out of the house, then he ran through the wicket into the street screaming wildly. Just at that moment, non-commissioned officer Fedotov passed by. He deftly caught the boy and asked:

What happened, kid?

Uncle policeman, there’s blood in the house... he pointed at the house.

Let's go see it together. Maybe you imagined all this.. the policeman could not believe that there could be blood in the country house. Maybe the owners of the house just poured red wine on the floor.

No... No, I won’t go... the boy protested. I'm afraid to go there.

Okay, run away from here, the policeman said affectionately, being sure that the boy was just fooling around and decided to make a joke. However, Fedotov decided to check the house the boy pointed to. This was Colonel Bazhenov's house.

Fedotov entered through the wicket, it was open. The policeman found himself in a small courtyard of a country house. The window facing the street was tightly closed with wooden shutters. The front door of the house was also locked from the inside. The policeman grinned, deciding that the boy had decided to deceive him. Fedotov imagined how this prankster and the boys made fun of him.

But Fedotov is used to seeing things through to the end. And he decided to check the house and the courtyard to make sure everything was in order. He involuntarily had an inexplicable feeling of anxiety: the day was already in full swing, and the inhabitants of the colonel’s house were not visible. In addition, the living room shutters and the front door were closed. This circumstance seemed suspicious to him.

Of course, Fedotov saw the open balcony door and entered the house.

Mister Colonel! the policeman called to the owner. But he heard no answer.

The balcony door led into the living room. And what Fedotov saw literally discouraged him. Fedotov felt weakness in his legs and nausea creeping up his throat. He barely restrained himself from vomiting. Finally, the shock subsided and Fedotov, with a trembling hand, felt for the whistle that hung from his neck. This was a special police signal whistle, with which a police officer could call for help or report that a certain crime was taking place.

Fedotov took the whistle and was about to blow it when the thought struck him: "And who am I going to call for help? One of my assistants is on duty in the holiday village of Alexandrovo, and the second assistant is watching the cab drivers near the railway station... Who will